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Case Mod - In Progress Project: Andromeda - July 29th, FINAL ASSEMBLY! take a look, Pg. 4

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Thacrudd, 29 May 2008.

  1. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    Hello All! This is the start of my first project Log here at Bit-Tech. Well, for a casemod anyways. I did a short log in the modding forums which I just posted a finished update on, you should check it out.

    Andromeda Galaxy M31
    [​IMG]

    I started this project on a whim the other day after I was slightly inspired by our landing of another Mars rover on Sunday. I have always been a fan of Astronomy, so I wanted to do a case based on that subject. I was looking through the Hubble Space Telescope's website and really liked the pictures of galaxies they had. (If you haven't been to their site, you should drop by, there's hundreds of awesome deep space pictures/wallpapers there for free)

    The victim:
    [​IMG]

    This was the 1st case I ever bought about 5 years ago. A cheap Alienware ripoff that needed a facelift. Unfortunately I am horrible at Sketchup so I won't be able to give you a concept pic unless I upload my hastily scrawled sketchbook drawings.

    It will have white interior, white exterior, smoke semi-transparent plexi and have green stripes/LEDs.

    DAY 1​
    First I wanted to do away with that horrible face on the front of the case so I cut it out and put support behind it for the bondo going onto it:
    [​IMG]

    While the JB Weld sets I took the side panels off and took the pre-existing plexi out. It had seen it's better days but I'll put it off to the side incase I need it.
    [​IMG]

    I used the old plexi as a template to mark out the new smoke going in it's place
    [​IMG]

    all cut out
    [​IMG]

    Here's the blade I used. 150T, worked like a champ.
    [​IMG]

    DAY 2​

    After the JB Weld dried, I bondo'd up the face to start making a bit more appealing:
    [​IMG]

    While it was drying I got the chassis to have a look at it. I Don't think I'll do much hacking at it but we'll see
    [​IMG]

    I went ahead and sanded and primered the side panels and the top panel (not pictured)
    [​IMG]

    Afte I had primered the top panel, I decided to put an 80mm fan in the top, so I used the world's worst hole saw ever made EVER and the drill bit popped out, the saw slipped, and this happened:
    [​IMG]
    :wallbash::wallbash:

    Luckily I had some glazing putty to fix it up and it worked great. I put it on a little thick but It'll be ready by the morning.
    [​IMG]

    A few hours down the line my bondo was dry and ready for sanding so I sanded it and slapped on another coat:
    [​IMG]

    DAY 3​

    Not too much this morning, I just finished sanding the 2nd coat of bondo and it tuned out real nice:
    [​IMG]

    I also finished sanding out the glazing putty and re-primered the top panel to ensure the scratches were gone:
    [​IMG]

    That's it so far. I'll leave you with a picture of my work area.
    [​IMG]

    Thanks for looking, more updates to come.....
     
    Last edited: 29 Jul 2008
  2. Farmboy UK

    Farmboy UK Hungry for knowledge

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    Looks like it could be a fun project, I've still never used bondo, it appears people seem to get good results so i may have to try something with it soon. Good luck on the mod!
     
  3. CobraMods

    CobraMods Gettin there slowly

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    looks like a great start..i read the name of it and immediately thought of the tv show, not the galaxy lol
    good luck and keep it up :thumb:
     
  4. Oreon_237

    Oreon_237 CHEA BRO!

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    Bondo is great to use, But are you sure it takes like a few hours to dry? the bondo i use takes like 20 minutes to dry and is pink, oh well. nice start, this is something ill have to keep an eye on
     
  5. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    Yes, bondo is great to use and yes, it takes about 20-30 minutes to set, but I usually give it a couple hours before working it just to be on the safe side.
     
  6. Ryu_ookami

    Ryu_ookami I write therefore I suffer.

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    never heard of bondo but it likeslike a nice product does anyone know what its called in the UK
     
  7. bentleya

    bentleya Lian Li Snail :)

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    it;s normal body filler aka p38 if you go to halfords it's called p38, and skrewfix sell it in big tins, under automotive section :p
     
  8. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    Long Time, No See...

    Well it's been a while! I went on vacation, got married, and have been taken by the kahunas by GTA IV. I guess it's time I get a bit of work done.

    DAY 4​

    I didn't do a whole lot taday, just mostly planning. I did however get the fan shroud made for the bottom of the case. The thing is, There wasn't alot of options for me to put fans in this case, so I had to make a couple. One was in the top of the case (from last update) and the other is in the drive cage. The case will be on casters or feet so I needed to find a way to get more air in and utilize space to do so. This is what I came up with:

    [​IMG]
    Yeah, I know. It's a little....funny looking

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It's a little rough but I'll have it lookin good in no time.

    [​IMG]

    DAY 5​

    I spent most of the day primering and sanding. I was able to get some pieces mostly ready. That included the power supply.

    (before primer)
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I also cut the hole for the fan shroud in the bottom of the chassis and primered the shroud and the chassis.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    I know, it looks a little crooked, but it's easily manipulated and will be straightened out. It's not yet attached, either.

    DAY 6​

    So I sanded the front panal where I did all the bondo work and I took this picture to show something that may help out newcomers to working with body filler. Look at the picture below:

    [​IMG]

    Once you think you've got the piece pretty well sanded and primered, you'll want to even it out. What you need is a sanding block. It holds the sand paper flat to make sure you are putting even pressure on all parts of the sand paper.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Sand the piece you're working on moving back and forth, in one direction (not back, forth, side to side) until you get to where you see the body filler showing through. If you look at the picture you can see dark grey lines and some dark grey splotches. Those are low spots on the piece and need to be fixed. If they aren't too bad you can take the spot putty like what I used before and spread a layer over the low spots and repeat the process with the sanding block to eliminate dips, scratches, and pinholes. This is VERY IMPORTANT if you are painting the piece a dark glossy/shiny color or your imperfections will show.

    I hope that makes sense and if you all are having trouble understanding it, please let me know. Do you all think I should make a short guide on working with body filler? Now, on to other things..

    Test fitting.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. Possibly the biggest piece of crap motherboard ever (IMO). During the time that I've had this, the USB ports have quit working, one of the memory restraining clips has broken, and the chipset fan locked up and I had to rig up an old 40mm fan on it. It's all I got though :p

    DAY 7​

    Oh my, what's this? I got an unexpected addition to the case for a price I just couldn't pass up. It's a 4.5 inch LCD screen that's dying for some love...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The rest of the day has consisted of re-fitting and planning. I'm really trying to fit 10 lbs of crap in a 9 lb bag, but hey, I'm sure I'll work something out. Wish me luck.:D

    I know it's not much to look at but hopefully it will begin taking shape real soon.
     
    Last edited: 18 Jun 2008
  9. Cs:sMods4YOU

    Cs:sMods4YOU What's a Dremel?

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    looks good, i like the idea that you got rid of the front design. keep up the good work man
     
  10. MrWizard

    MrWizard What's a Dremel?

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    I agree completely with you on this one...It's what I have right now as well until I get the last couple parts for this new system (in my sig). I hate nForce4 to begin with, but this board is pretty much crap. My USB ports also crapped out on me (two of them at least) and the RAID feature leaves much to be desired. After going through this one and a previous ASUS model that also had a heap of issues...to the point of RMA action...I'll never buy ASUS anything ever again. Gigabyte all the way.
     
  11. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    PSU to the People....

    DAY 8​

    I got the LCD screen hooked up yesterday and one of the backlights were burned out so I should have a replacement in the next 2 days. Before I went and cut the front up to fit the screen I figured I should wait until I have a confirmed working LCD. There's plenty of other stuff I can do though.

    I wanted to work a little on the PSU to get it painted and put back together so this is how it went:

    cut the PSU window
    [​IMG]

    cutting the smoke plexi
    [​IMG]

    Lookin good
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    The power supply will be white with the grey smoke plexi trim around the window. I think it'll work out quite nicely.

    I work 48 hours a week and there's just not enough time in the day..

    [​IMG]

    Thanks for looking :thumb:
     
  12. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    Nice rack, can I play with it?

    DAY 9​

    Lots of work was done today. I was off work, the chores were done, and my ipod was charged. Time to flip on some Flogging Molly and mod.

    I still have many ideas cooped up in my head and it was time to put them into reality. I decided to start with the drive cage. It needed some sprucing up and I knew just what it needed. Most of this was asthetic, but important nonetheless.

    I started with a cardboard mock-up of the upper drive cage cover. I wanted something to hide the back end of my 5.25" devices.

    [​IMG]

    I used the mock-up to fit and then cut out th piece out of smoke plexi. The very end of it needed to be bent so I broke out the strip heater.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Piece done. It still needs cleaned up a bit, but I'll get to that later.
    [​IMG]

    Now for the lower drive cage cover:

    (mock-up)
    [​IMG]

    cut
    [​IMG]

    Now, on to the full frontal assault. I needed to make room for the LCD screen and I knew I wanted it in the front. Here's the process.

    [​IMG]

    front panel cut out:
    [​IMG]

    it fits!
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I picked out my handles and I went ahead and got the holes drilled and ready for installation.

    [​IMG]

    TIP: if you don't have a drill press, mark here you want your holes drilled and then take a hammer and nail to make small "dents" where you will be drilling. It helps keep your drill bit from moving around when you are trying to do it with a hand drill. This technique only works on metal or wood!

    temporary install
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Grillin' :D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Thanks for looking!
     
    Last edited: 23 Jun 2008
  13. nagyizom

    nagyizom Minimodder

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    I like those drive cage covers
     
  14. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    +1:D
     
  15. psychoti

    psychoti What's a Dremel?

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    I wish one day to have something like this..
    I live in a flat and every time i have to be very careful and work only when my girl is away!!

    Great job mate..:clap:
     
  16. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    Thanks guys, I wanted to make something that would cover the rather bland drive cage and the back ends of the unsightly 5.25" devices. I figure that it'll look real nice when it's painted white with the smoke covers on them.

    @psychoti - Hang in there, I've seen some guys on here mod out of a bathroom lol. I sometimes wish I had more room but alas, the wallet says otherwise. Thanks again.
     
  17. Nolimited

    Nolimited What's a Dremel?

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    nice and the lcd will have a good place :thumb:
    I find also the fan grill very nice :clap:
     
  18. Burnout21

    Burnout21 Mmmm biscuits

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    5 stars, i like where this is going.
     
  19. Thacrudd

    Thacrudd Where's the any key?!?

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    Thanks Burnout. If it turns out anything like I imagine I'll be really pleased. I have some tricks up my sleeve so keep an eye out. :thumb:
     
  20. konvoj

    konvoj What's a Dremel?

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    still quite rough-looking,but really interesting ideas,particularly i like the psu window as well.nice mod:lol:
     
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